But according to new research, being generous to others could clear your path to joy.

Published in Nature Communications, the small study found that rather than splashing cash on a Pret almond croissant and a fresh pair of Stan Smiths for yourself, spending money on someone else is what’ll make you feel better in the long run.

Don’t forget to tip (Picture: Getty)

Researchers at the University of Zurich wanted to explore the adage that generous behaviour increases happiness, which in turn motivates generosity and begins a beautiful generosity-happiness cycle.

50 participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group, and told they would be given 25 Swiss francs in each of the following four weeks.

In the experimental group, they were told to commit to spending money on other people – who that was was their own choice, and examples included buying gifts or taking them out for dinner.

It’s nice being nice (Picture: Getty)

The control group, meanwhile, were told to spend money on themselves such as buying themselves a gift or taking themselves out to dinner.

The second part of the experiment then had them complete a decision-making task while the researchers measured their blood-oxygen-level-dependent responses (which is used to observe areas of the brain and other organs).

In each trial they were given an option they could either accept of reject, involving someone else gaining money and the participants losing money.

Maybe you should fork out for presents after all (Picture: Getty)

The financial hit varied from three to 25 Swiss francs, but always involved some kind of personal sacrifice, which they used to define how generously each of them behaved.

They also measured their happiness using a subjective happiness scale before and after this exercise.

The researchers found that the experimental group was more likely to make generous choices than the control group, but also reported a greater increase in happiness too.

Be a champ and ask that friend out for dinner (Picture: Getty)

And when people were behaving generously, areas of the brain related to reward, happiness and empathy lit up.

In other words, being generous gave them what the study’s authors described as a ‘warm glow’:

‘We find that a public pledge to be generous efficiently boosted generous behaviour and happiness in experimental relative to control participants, who had committed to spend money on themselves,’ they wrote.